Love's a DragOn
by Thunder Magus
Summary: When Spike meets a young dragoness, it leaves him spending his time with her, forcing Twilight to employ the help of the other ponies. However, it's soon clear that Spike may be forced to chose between his friends or the dragoness who captured his heart.
1. Chapter 1

The afternoon sun shone brightly upon the meadows on the outskirts of Ponyville, where a little purple dragon busied himself picking Dragon Peppers, whistling to himself while he worked. Dragon Peppers were rare vegetables that grew miles outside of Ponyville. Dragon Peppers named such based on the myth that they were spicy enough to cause a pony to breathe fire. Spike had been proven on one occasion that this myth was true when Pinkie Pie had thrown a party for a Gryphon named Gilda, who ate a cookie with these peppers thrown in them.

Collecting the peppers was an assignment from Twilight Sparkle, who wanted to study these peppers and find out what gave them their unbearable heat. Of course, acquiring Dragon Peppers also presented Spike with the opportunity for some very hilarious pranks. He would have loved to see what would happen if he could sneak just one of them into Rainbow Dash's food, or slip one into Pinkie Pie's cake mix. Rarity of course, was off limits. Simply thinking about that gorgeous white unicorn put a smile on Spike's face and rapture in his heart. There wasn't a more beautiful pony in Ponyville; no, in all of Equestria!

Spike shook his head to clear his thoughts and get back to his duties. It was lonely out there in the flat, grassy countryside. Lonely and quiet. He was just a baby dragon, after all. Like most infant creatures, he craved company and hated being alone. Especially in a place he wasn't familiar with. This task demanded his full concentration. If he could find just one more bush of peppers, he'd have enough for both Twilight and for some well-meaning pranks.

The dragon's yellow, cat-like eyes locked onto a pepper bush just ahead, with plenty of ripe red pods ready for picking. They were warm to the touch, so much so that it was a miracle he didn't have blisters on his hands from all the other ones he'd been picking since morning. He hurriedly plucked them off one by one by the stems, anxious to get back to Ponyville and be with his friends again, especially Rarity. Sweet, beautiful Rarity. With those big dark blue eyes that shimmered like fine diamonds. Sweet, delicious diamonds.

Distracted as he was in his thoughts, Spike yelped in surprise as something slightly warm and damp pinched his arrow-tipped tail.

"Ow!"

Spike snapped around, but there was nopony there. After a shrug he went back to his picking, unaware of another creature's presence on the other side of the bush. Spike's distraction in picking the peppers left the creature with another opportunity to nip at his tail. He wheeled around, faster this time. The leaves of the bush danced, leaving Spike wondering if whoever was messing with him brushed against the leaves in retreat, or jumped inside the bush to hide. Focusing, his eyes narrowed, Spike crept around to the other side of the bush. Still, there was nopony to be seen. Spike scratched his chin in though. There was only one pony in Equestria who could be THAT fast.

"Rainbow Dash?" Spike yelled. Only complete silence answered him. As the little dragon stood there, perplexed, something rammed into his back hard enough to knock him face-first into the grass.

"Tag, you're it!" Spike heard a female voice yell.

"Ok, Rainbow, you asked for it!" Spike shouted as he picked himself up to his knees. Now there were at least two peppers bound for her food.

However, as Spike rolled over into his rear, the creature standing above him was not Rainbow Dash. His spines drooped in shock and embarrassment at the realization of his mistake. What he saw a creature that made his every sense, save for sight go numb, and he was sure THAT sense was fooling him. Standing before him was a cute dragon girl, about his age and size from the looks of it. Icy blue scales sparkled in the sunlight as she looked down on him with beautiful blue eyes. Pale blue hair dropped down to the base of her neck.

"Oh, I'm sorry," said the pretty stranger. "I didn't ram you too hard, did I?"

"N-n-n-n-not at a-a-a-a-a-all," Spike answered, ignoring the pounding pain in his spine.

The she-dragon giggled and smiled down on him. "I'm Sapphire!" she said warmly. "What's your name?"

Spike's jaw hung open, frozen in place. Sapphire. It was the most beautiful name he'd ever heard in his young life.

"My name is…uh…." A silent struggle for the answer left Spike clamping his eyes shut in thought. _Oh, come on, Spike, think! What IS your name, Spike? Hello! Equestria to Spike! _

"Spike?" he answered his thoughts outloud. _Oh yeah, that's right! _"My name's Spike."

Sapphire giggled a sweet little giggle that made Spike's heart skip a beat. "Nice to meet you, Spike!" She offered a forepaw to help him stand up. As Spike took her hand into his own, every nerve in his body tingled. He was holding hands with the most beautiful dragoness he'd ever laid his eyes on. Of course, she was the FIRST dragoness he'd ever laid eyes on. But he was still sure this particular dragoness was exceptionally beautiful.

Quivering, unsure what to say or do, Spike stared at the paw that had just grasped Sapphire's, making a silent vow that he'd never wash that paw again.

"Hey!" Sapphire's voice pulled Spike from his trance-like stake. He looked back up at her to see her tilting her head, smiling. "Weren't you it?"

"Huh?"

"Catch me if you can!" With that, Sapphire ran in the other direction, her blue hair flowing behind her.

Spike's heart pounded like it was going to crack his ribs. This friendly and pretty girl dragon was openly inviting him to play! For a moment he thought he was dreaming, but the throbbing pain in his back assured him he was very much awake.

What was there to loose? Spike chased after Sapphire, and for the first time noticed the big blue ribbon she wore her tail. It made Spike think that Sapphire was on a level of beauty that rivaled even Rarity's.

For the next hour the two young dragons chased each other around, wrestling, laughing and giggling as baby dragons do. Their romp made Spike forget all about his duties to Twilight until it returned them back to the bush with the sack full of Dragon Peppers still sitting there.

"Oh no!" Spike held his paw to his face.

"What's the matter, Spike?"

"I forgot all about Twilight! I'm sorry, Sapphire. I have to head home, she's probably worried about me."

Sapphire tilted her head, giving Spike a quizzical look. "Twilight? Who's that?" She frowned, her eyes giving off a hint of sadness. "Is she your… girlfriend?"

"Who, Twilight? No way! She's a unicorn from Ponyville. I'm just her assistant. That's why I was picking these peppers."

Sapphire flashed a big, toothy smile. "So you don't have a girlfriend, then?"

"U-u-um…" Spike stammered, feeling his face flush. If she'd just given an open invitation, this was turning out to be the best day ever! "I don't."

"So…" Sapphire lowered her head bashfully, twisting her foot into the ground. "Do you…want to meet here again tomorrow?"

"Would I ever!"

The dragoness' eyes seemed to light up as she giggled outloud. "Great! So, see you tomorrow?"

"You bet!"

"Okay, bye, Spike!"

"Bye, Sapphire!"

"Goodbye!"

"Goodbye to you, too!"

"See ya."

"See ya."

"Later!"

"Yup, later!"

Their exchange made the two dragons laugh, Sapphire turning her head shyly away from Spike.

"Okay," Spike continued once he'd caught his breath. "I'm really leaving this time. See you tomorrow, Sapphire!" He then took off running in the direction of Ponyville.

"Bye, Spike!" Sapphire yelled to the running, shrinking form. "See you tomorrow!"

As hard as he fought it, Spike couldn't stop smiling his entire run home. Sapphire was friendly, playful, beautiful. To have found another dragon his age in Equestria, and she was interested in him! Spike couldn't believe his luck! Rarity hadn't even come into his thoughts since he'd met Sapphire.

Okay, Spike, time to act normal the little dragon thought as he reached the outskirts of Ponyville. He couldn't afford to let Twilight find out about his new friend. If she did, she might think he didn't want to be her assistant anymore. A casual stroll took him through the village of ponies, all of them minding their own business and oblivious to the little dragon's inward glee.

"I'm home!" Spike shouted as he stepped into the library.

Twilight busied herself with dusting off the shelves with a feather duster that hovered in midair from the violet unicorn's magic. "Wow, Spike," she answered as she glanced out the window, the back over her shoulder at him. "What took you so long? It's almost sundown!"

The dragon fidgeted. "Well, uh… you know how rare those Dragon Peppers are. I wanted to make sure I picked enough.

As Spike set the potato sack down on the floor, Twilight rested the duster on the top shelf and trotted over to get a look at the pickings. The sack had been filled almost to the top. "Spike, my goodness, this is more than enough. You've really outdone yourself this time!" Twilight gave him a gentle noogie of praise. "My #1 assistant. I'll start my research on them tomorrow. Why don't you take the day off?"

"You mean it?"

"Absolutely, Spike. You earned it."

No duties to Twilight, nothing planned for the day. He was completely free to meet Sapphire again. In his mind he did a fist pump as he jumped for joy. On the outside, he managed to remain cool and calm.

"Thanks, Twilight! You're the best!" Spike couldn't stop himself from embracing the unicorn. Twilight smiled and patted Spike on the back.


	2. Chapter 2

The following day was sunny and balmy, with only a pleasant breeze sweeping Equestria's plains. It was the perfect day for being outdoors. Applejack tended to the fields of apple trees while the three Cutie Mark Crusaders bounced about Ponyille, still searching for ways to find their marks. A rainbow blur of colors streaked over Spike's head as he neared the edge of town. Rainbow Dash, of course. Off to the side, Pinkie Pie engaged in a playful hop around Ponyville, passing each pony she came across an invitation to another one of her parties. The little dragon ignored all of that, however. His only focus was reaching the field where he met Sapphire the previous afternoon.

Unbeknownst to Spike, Rainbow Dash stopped in midair, rubbing her chin with her hoof as she watched the dragon march out of the village. Where could he be going? It was unusual for him to leave Ponyville alone. As much as she hated flying slow, she couldn't fight her curiosity and trailed Spike a few feet away from him, careful not to alert him to her presence. It hardly seemed ethical to spy on the little dragon, but Rainbow defeated the thought by convincing herself there were many creatures in Equestria's countryside that would prey on an almost defenseless baby dragon. If he was in danger, he could use her help. She WAS the embodiment of loyalty, after all. Yes, that was it. She was following him to protect him, not to spy on him.

The dragon pepper bush where Spike had met Sapphire came into view, forcing him to smile. She'd been on his mind ever since he left yesterday. As he got closer, the smile turned to a frown. The meadow was empty. Where was Sapphire?

Rainbow Dash darted behind a tree to stay out of Spike's view as he pivoted to observe his empty, lonely surroundings. What WAS he doing way out there? And what made him stop?

A familiar giggle snapped Spike to attention. Sapphire's? He turned in a full circle one more time to be sure he hadn't overlooked her. A light breeze swept through the meadow, rattling the leaves in the trees, but no other motion could be seen.

"Sapphire?" Spike yelled. Another giggle answered him. "Sapphire!"

"Over here, Spike!" the dragoness' sweet voice echoed across the meadow.

But where? "Where is 'over here?'" Spike shouted.

"I can't tell you," she teased, "that would spoil the fun!"

Slowly, Rainbow craned her neck around the tree. Who was Sapphire? She'd never heard of anypony around Ponyville with that name.

"Come and find me!" Sapphire's voice pierced through the silence.

More interested than ever, Rainbow's eyes locked onto Spike as he walked about the meadow, searching for the source of the mysterious voice. She had almost been spotted once. Perhaps she'd be better hidden on the ground. The pegasus descended until her hooves pressed against the soft grass surrounding her tree.

"I don't see you!" Spike yelled again as he neared a patch of trees separate from the one where Dash had been hiding.

"You're getting warmer!"

The little purple dragon walked into the center of the trees, shouting one more time. "How about now?"

"Okay. Stay right there!"

Something among the trees made Rainbow hold her head high in amazement. Using her claws to climb down the trunk of the tree to Spike's back was a small female dragon with icy blue scales. On all fours she crawled across the ground like a cat stalking its prey. She paused, twitching her tail in anticipation as she checked her alignment, and pounced on Spike from the rear. She and Spike disappeared underneath the tall grass. The sounds of both dragons giggling came soon after.

The powder blue pony clamped her hoof to her mouth in an attempt to cram the growing giggle back down. Little Spike had found himself a girlfriend! How cute was that?

"Rainbow Dash?" a soft whisper came from behind her.

Startled, Rainbow buckled her knees, but she held her ground and wheeled in a half-circle, where a pink-haired pegasus was standing behind her.

"Fluttershy? What are you doing way out here?"

Fluttershy turned her head away from Rainbow, winding her hoof in her hair with embarrassment. "Umm… I was curious where Spike was headed. If I'm intruding, I'll just go back to Ponyville…"

"Not at all, Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash wrapped a foreleg around Fluttershy's neck to reassure her. "Come take a look at this!"

"O-okay…"

Dash guided Fluttershy to the edge of the tree and pointed her hoof to the pair of romping baby dragons. "Get a load of that!"

Fluttershy gasped and drew her head back. "I don't believe it! ANOTHER BABY DRA-"

Fluttershy's rare exclamation was cut short by Dash putting her hoof over the yellow pegasus' mouth. "Shh! I don't want Spike to know I was spying on," she paused for a few seconds, "I mean, following him." Racking her brain to come up with a quasi-legitimate reason, she settled on the most reasonable one she could think of. "To make sure he didn't get into any danger."

"But… I've never seen a baby dragon in Equestria besides Spike. Where did she come from?"

"Beats me," Dash replied.

Fluttershy smiled widely at the giggling, romping dragons. "That is so cuuuute!"

The rainbow pegasus turned away from the meadow, motioning for Fluttershy to follow. "Come on, let's go tell Twilight! She'd love to hear about this!"

"Um, Rainbow, maybe Spike should be the one to tell her."

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow, staring at Fluttershy for a few seconds. The pink-haired pony lowered herself in submission and turned her head to direct eye contact with Dash. "But… if you want to tell her, I can't stop you…"

Rainbow Dash sighed and drooped. "No, you're right. Spike will tell Twilight when he's ready." She glanced over her shoulder to get one last peek at the laughing, playing dragonlings, then turned back to Fluttershy. "Look, we should get out of here before they see us."

Saying nothing, Fluttershy followed behind her colorful companion back to Ponyville.

"Come back here!" Spike shouted as he attempted to snatch Sapphire's tail in his paw. She only giggled and ran faster, leaving Spike grab at empty air. "Where are you going?"

"Follow me, Spike! Keep up if you can!"

Spike's chase took him through a thick blanket of trees, back into an open meadow several hundred yards away from the pepper bush.

"How…much…farther?" Spike asked, panting. Judging from the way the trees were starting to thin out, they'd been running for almost a mile.

"Almost there!"

As the trees became more scarce, the surface of a distant pond glittered in the sunlight with Sapphire running straight for it.

"Thirsty?" she yelled.

"You bet!"

Soon the two young dragons reached the edge of the pond and both went to all fours to get a drink. Sapphire gasped, causing Spike to look up at her.

"What is it?"

Sapphire narrowed her eyes, staring hard at the water. "There's… something strange down there."

"Strange?"

"Yeah… come take a look."

Spike stood up and moved closer to Sapphire in order to peer into the pond at whatever it was she'd seen. Before he had a chance to move out of the way, he saw Sapphire's reflection come up behind his own and shove him into the water. Sapphire fell over on her back in a fit of laughter.

"Tricked ya, Spike!" The little dragoness continued to giggle for a few more seconds, but her laughter faded as she realized Spike had not yet come back up for air. "Oh no!" she shouted out loud to herself. "He didn't tell me if he could swim or not!"

Sapphire moved closer to the water's edge, alert for any signs of Spike so she she'd know where to dive in and rescue him. As she scanned the water, a purple hand shot above the surface, grabbed her by the arm and yanked her off her feet into the water. For a few seconds she felt weightless, unable to breathe, unsure of what had just happened. By the time she got her head above water, Spike was already on the bank, having his turn to laugh.

"Hey!" Sapphire shouted as she wiped the water from her face.

Eyes locked onto the bobbing blue head, Spike held both arms into the air in triumph. "Spike's Revenge!"

"Oh yeah?" Sapphire asked with a sly grin. She drew her arm back and splashed a handful of water at Spike.

"Hey, come on, no fair!" he yelled as he leapt backwards to avoid getting splashed. Sapphire only laughed harder, swam closer and splashed with even more force.

"Alright, you asked for it!"

Letting out a long Tarzan scream, Spike made a beeline for the water and jumped five times his own body height. (A physics-defying feat he'd learned from Pinkie Pie.) Whilst in midair, the dragon curled himself up and transitioned into a front flip with a shout of "Dragonball!"

Sapphire had been too captivated with Spike's feat to realize what his intentions were. Until she saw him descending towards the water near her position. By then it was too late to swim away. All she could do was shield her face with her arm as the resulting splash consumed her like a tidal wave. Spike's green finned head popped up from the water in time for Sapphire to give it another splash.

"You're gonna get it now!" she taunted as Spike shook the water from his face.

Spike narrowed his eyes and gave off a playful smirk. "We'll see about that!"

A giggle was Sapphire's answer as she drew back from Spike, daring him to give chase. As soon as he started after her, Sapphire turned away from him, using her tail as an oar to not only propel herself through the pond, but kick up powerful splashes of water as she did so. Despite this, Spike oriented on her, chasing her in two full laps through the pond before she climbed up onto the soft sand of the bank. Sapphire brushed her hair from her eye, then turned her neck to see Spike climbing up out of the water as well. With a sly smile, she placed her palm on Spike's chest and shoved him back into the water.

Spike's purple head emerged from the surface a few seconds later, watching Sapphire laugh at his misfortune. "Okay, this is getting old."

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it!" Sapphire said in a tone that let Spike know her apology was sincere. "Here, let me help you up out of there."

For a few seconds, Spike stared at the blue paw outstretched towards him. Probably another trick. Even if so, he couldn't pass up the opportunity to hold hands with Sapphire a second time. Even if only for a second. He grasped Sapphire's paw, and felt himself being pulled up to the bank by her strength. It felt good to be on solid ground again, but felt even better when he realized Sapphire hadn't let go of his paw after pulling him out of the water. He looked at their clenched hands for a few moments, then back up at Sapphire. She smiled at him, averted her eyes from his gaze and turned away, pondering the possibilities of the moment.

"Come on, Spike," she finally answered as she looked back up at Spike, "I'll…walk you back to the meadow."

Her hand guided him back towards the path of trees from whence they came. Was it okay for him to keep hold of her paw? She didn't seem to object. Still, in an act of politeness, Spike released his grip, only to find his paw once again warmed by Sapphire's own soft, warm palm.

"I didn't say you have to let go," Sapphire said. There was a hint of coy embarrassment in her voice.

Spike felt his face flush. Was this really happening? Did she like him? LIKE like him? As he opened his mouth to ask, his own embarrassment held the words in. At the very least, he could enjoy the moment in silence. In those moments as they strolled through the wooded path paw in paw, a startling feeling Spike had never experienced before began to swell within him. It was a pleasant, warm, fuzzy feeling that not even Rarity ever gave him. Certainly it couldn't be…

Spike shook the thought from his head. He'd only known Sapphire for a couple days, and things like the L-Word don't happen that fast. Do they? Maybe Twilight would know. But how could he ask without giving any hints about his new friend?

"Spike, are you okay?" Sapphire's voice snapped Spike out of his concentration.

"Who, me? Sure! Why, do I look sick?"

"Well, you seemed kind of nervous and distracted."

"Maybe a little," Spike answered, his voice shaky. Sapphire DID make him nervous, but a good kind of nervous.

Sapphire pulled herself closer to Spike, so close their sides were nearly touching. "Why are you nervous?"

"Well…" Spike tried to think of an excuse. But he wouldn't lie to Sapphire. He couldn't. "Being with you kinda… make me nervous."

"Awww!" Sapphire said. For a few seconds she rested her head on Spike's shoulder, then quickly pulled it away. "Umm… to be honest… being with you kinda… makes me nervous, too."

"Does… that mean we… like each other?" Spike hadn't even thought about the words before he said them.

Sapphire giggled. "I don't know. Maybe it does!"

Meanwhile, back in Ponyville…

Twilight Sparkle let out an annoyed growl. Of all the days to give Spike a free day, she HAD to pick today. Her entire afternoon consisted of searching for books on plants by herself, only a few of which had any useful information about dragon peppers. There was a stack of books piled on the floor next to the book case, dragon pepper flesh and seeds all over her table, and no one to help her pick them all up. For a second she considered leaving the clean up for Spike tomorrow, but the whole point of giving him a day off was to let him rest for the hard work he'd been doing. It wouldn't be fair to leave today's work for him to do tomorrow. She shook her head. Maybe she could use a little fresh air and a milk shake from Sugarcube Corner.

Twilight stepped outside into the late afternoon air. It was mild and pleasant, maybe a walk WOULD do her some good. As she started for Sugarcube Corner, a streak of colors in the air stopped her in midstep.

"Rainbow Dash, am I glad I ran in to you!"

Rainbow stopped in midair, staring wide-eyed at the purple unicorn. Did Twilight know about Spike? "Uh… sure! Did you need some help, Twighlight?"

"Actually, I could use a hand with the cleanup. I hate to bother you with this, but I sort of gave Spike the day off and there's nopony else around to help."

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and put her hoof on her chest in pride. "Don't you worry about a thing, pal! I'll help you get cleaned up in ten seconds flat or my element isn't loyalty!"

"Great! I knew I could count on a good friend like you." Twilight's head followed Dash as she became a blur of colors that zipped through the library door.

"Just be…" A loud crash came from inside the house, followed by the sound of something ceramic shattering. Twilight winced at this. Cringing, she raised her fore hoof. "…careful."

Twilight wasn't sure she wanted to find out what had been broken, but she galloped back inside the library nonetheless. In a far corner of the room, Rainbow Dash had fallen flat on her back. Beside her was the remains of what was once a whole statue of a stallion that had worn a large, frilly collar around his neck. As Twilight observed the pile, she let out a startled gasp. The head of the statue was still in one piece, laying on the floor with his pony tailed head looking up at her.

"Hey, Twilight, I think I ran into your statue of this stallion with the egg-shaped head."

"Oh no. My one of a kind bust of Wilhelm Shakesfoale!"

One of a kind? Rainbow gnashed her teeth in regret at the words. "Sorry, Twilight."

"Well," Twilight said as she observed what remained of Sir Shakesfoale. She then shot a glare at the fallen pegasus. "It's not okay! That was a gift from Princess Celestia! It was worth more money than every book in this room put together!"

During Twilight's lecture, Rainbow picked herself up back to her hooves and dusted herself off. "Yikes, no kidding? Who was he, anyway?"

Twilight groaned and did a facehoof. What pony never heard of Sir Wilhelm Shakesfoale? "He was only one of the most famous poets in Equestria's recorded history!"

Dash cocked her head at the mess she'd made. What was so special about some egg-headed horse who looked like he was alive seven hundred years ago? The weight of Twilight's eyes fell upon Rainbow, who wilted under the unicorn's glare, hit with a pang of regret. She lowered herself, giving Twilight an apologetic look. "Oh boy. I really screwed up this time, didn't I?"

"I know it wasn't on purpose, but… YES!"

A nervous chuckle sounded from Rainbow's muzzle as she looked at her right shank. "Oh, silly me, look at the time. Gotta fly!"

As Dash made a break for the door, Twilight vanished in a shower of magic sparks and materialized in front of the door to halt her retreat. "Not so fast, Rainbow. You're gonna owe me for this one."

Rainbow Dash groaned. "Worth more than every book here put together? I figure I'll be able to come up with that money sometime between now and the end of next century. Are you sure you don't want me to just do some chores or something?"

Twilight narrowed her eyes. "I think you've done enough."


	3. Chapter 3

Warm beams of morning sunlight coming from her window hit Twilight Sparkle in the face, prying her eyes open for the morning. After a sleepy moan she lifted her head from her pillow and yawned. For a few minutes she sat upright in her sheets to allow the morning grogginess to subside before climbing out of bed. One by one she stretched her legs, yawned a second time, then trotted over to her bedroom mirror where a messy-haired reflection stared her down. Twilight's horn glittered with magic energy, and the brush sitting on the dresser lifted itself into the air to groom the unicorn's tangled and matted mane back to its straight-banged neatness. Now that the matter of her hygiene had been taken care of, Twilight pranced down the wooden stairs for some breakfast. A bowl of Magical Trinkets would really hit the spot.

Spike wasn't in the lobby of the library when Twilight reached the bottom of the stairs. He must still be asleep. Twilight shrugged. If he wasn't up by the time she finished breakfast, she'd have to wake him up. There was a lot of work to do today. After walking into the kitchen, Twilight used her magic to open a high cupboard and remove a box of cereal and a glass bowl, both of which suspended in midair until Twilight rested them on the table. She tilted her head. There was some sort of note scribbled out of a piece of parchment sitting next to the bowl. A sparkling aura surrounded it, causing it hover in front of Twilight so she could read it out loud to herself.

"Dear Twilight,

Sorry I didn't tell you in person, but Celestia wanted me to take care of some royal business in Canterlot today. I'll be home at sunset. Hope you're not too mad.

-Spike."

Twilight rubbed her chin with her hoof. Why hadn't Celestia told her about this "royal business?" The unicorn shook off her irritation. It was probably none of her business, strictly confidential between alicorns and dragons. Either way, Twilight groaned. The library was still a mess. With Spike gone, she'd have to clean up by herself and continue her research without any assistance. But that could wait until after breakfast. Twilight ate her cereal in silence, using her magic to manipulate the spoon instead of her hooves like most ponies.

Meanwhile…

Spike's heart pounded as he made his way back to the meadow where the dragon pepper bush stood. He could hardly wait to see Sapphire since the two departed and arranged to meet up again the next morning. It felt bad to lie to Twilight about where he was REALLY going, but he simply wasn't ready to tell her about Sapphire, and was prepared for whatever work overload awaited him when he got back.

For the moment, he could only think of the dragoness. What games would they play today? How much closer would they grow? How should he know when it's appropriate to kiss a girl? So many thoughts raced through his head as he continued his trek for the meadow.

The dragon pepper bush came into view in the distance, along with a small blue form waving at Spike. Despite his anxiety, the little dragon couldn't help but smile and sprinted towards it. However, the closer he got, the more his smile melted to a frown. This wasn't just any blue form. As he neared the bush, he realized the form also had a mane and tail in a rainbow of colors. This was not Sapphire, but a pegasus with a blue coat.

"Rainbow Dash?" Spike asked once he was within earshot of her. "What are you doing way out here?"

"Oh, just taking a morning flight, that's all." Rainbow Dash yawned and stretched her forelegs, then fluttered down off the tree branch until she touched the ground. "How about you, Spike? Does TWILIGHT know you're out here all by yourself?"

"Um…well…she knows I'm not home. If it's any of your business."

"Being a loyal friend IS my business. Well, next to winning races, that is," Rainbow said as she flew in a circle around Spike. "And I don't think I could call myself a loyal friend if I were keeping secrets from anypony."

Spike narrowed his eyes and folded his arms across his chest. "What are you getting at, Dash?"

"Spike, I know about your new friend. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for you. But if you're going to be running off like this everyday, I think Twilight should know the REAL reason why. And if you won't tell her about your little girlfriend, then I will."

"You were spying on me yesterday!" Spike shouted, pointing an accusing claw at the pegasus.

"And you didn't even have a clue! Heh heh, so awesome. I'm like a ninja pony!"

"Don't tell her! I'm not ready for her to find out yet!"

"Do it," Dash replied in a stern voice, "soon. Or I will."

"Okay, okay, I'll tell her. Sheesh."

"So glad you could see reason." Rainbow turned her head to look behind her. The little blue dragoness was approaching from the horizon. "Alright, looks like your little friend is on her way here. Have fun! And remember what I told you. Twilight's gonna find out one way or the other. Do the right thing, Spike."

Without another word, Rainbow zipped off in the opposite direction from the approaching dragonling, leaving behind a blur of colors that hung in the air for only a couple seconds before wisping into nothingness.

Spike growled to himself. Rainbow had been spying on him! A couple dragon peppers would not do now. He'd need at least three of them to exact sweet revenge on the pegasus. Sweet, fiery revenge. Enough to kill her taste buds for at least a month.

"Spike!" Sapphire's sweet little voice yelled as she ran up to the purple dragon. With no warning, she embraced him in a hug. "I missed you."

Spike trembled in Sapphire's grasp. He hadn't expected THAT. Unsure what to do, he wrapped his arms around her to return her hug. "I, uh, missed you too, Saph."

Smiling, Sapphire tilted her head. "Saph, huh? I kinda like that! And I know what we can do today. Follow me!"

Eyes narrowed in annoyance, Twilight manipulated a wash cloth with her magic, wiping it against the table to clean up the mess of dragon pepper seeds and crushed red flesh. She'd have to find someway to clean up two days' worth of mess AND still have time to get some research done. Why would Spike and Princess Celestia conduct royal business without telling her? The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. She scrubbed harder to fight her irritation, causing a seed to fly off the table and square into the unicorn's eye.

All at once Twilight dropped the cloth and held her hoof to her mouth in dread of what was sure to follow. She gritted her teeth and braced herself. It wasn't enough, as a scream of pain echoed across the library.

"Ahh! Ahh! My eye's on fire! Somepony help me!"

Half blind, Twilight ran frantic circles around the kitchen looking for something, anything to get the burning pain out of her eye.

Pinkie Pie, who had been out for a stroll, overheard the screaming and charged headfirst into the library. "Holy macaroni and cheese with peas!" the earth pony exclaimed. There were books lying all over the floor, flasks and tubes strewn about, and the remains of what was once a whole statue of Sir Wilhelm Shakesfoale.

"Burglars!" Pinkie shouted. Some sort of noise came from the library. Well, who else was going to fight them off? "You picked the wrong library, robbers!"

Pinkie took a breath of courage and charged into the kitchen, where she found the purple unicorn pouring a jug of milk over face. Pinkie couldn't help but giggle at the sight. "Hey, Twilight! If ya wanted to have a milk drinking contest, why didn'tcha invite me?"

"Pinkie?" Twilight asked, her left eye shut in pain. "What are you doing here?"

"Well first you were all like 'somepony help!' Then I was like 'I'll save you Twilight!' And then I came inside and there were books and sciency stuff all over the floor so I thought there might be a burglar and I came in here to scare them off! But it looks like you've got it taken care of."

"Pinkie, there were no burglars. I just got a pepper seed in my eye."

"Well, what about the messy mess in your lobby?"

"Spike's been gone the last couple of days and I haven't had time to do any cleaning." Flattered. Twilight raised a forehoof. "Wait minute. You were going to fight off burglars for me if there were any?"

"Sure!" Pinkie said with a big smile. She wrapped a foreleg around Twilight's neck and pressed their cheeks together. 'I'd do anything for a friend!"

Twilight smiled back and raised an eyebrow. "Aaaaanything?"

"You betcha!"

Twilight pushed Pinkie away so she could look her in the eye. "Then how about getting this place cleaned up while I go out for some supplies? And for pony's sake, don't touch anything breakable!"

"Okey dokey lokey!"

"The pond?" Spike asked after Sapphire had led him back to the pond they were at yesterday. "Why are we here again?"

"Wanna see a cool trick?" Sapphire answered, completely ignoring Spike's question.

"Uh, sure."

The blue dragoness held her little arms to the air, her eyes closed tight in what seemed to be great effort. What was she doing? Before Spike could inquire, a frigid air surrounded the pond, sending up steam from the water as the entire water hole solidified in only a few seconds. Spike kneeled down and tapped on the surface. It was real ice, and not an illusion.

"How did you do that?"

"You couldn't tell?" Sapphire asked. "I'm an ice dragon!"

Of course Twilight had told Spike stories about certain species of dragons that could manipulate nature's elements. Red dragons could control fire. Yellow dragons had power over lightning. Greens could have power over plants or wind, depending on the species. Blue dragons were usually either water or ice dragons. But since he hadn't seen any dragons other than the one he encountered in the Everfree Forest, he'd never been sure if there was any truth to these stories. Until now.

"Sapphire, that's amazing!"

Stepping onto the frozen pond, Sapphire giggled. "Come on, Spike!"

For a few moments Spike watched as the dragoness skated gracefully around the pond, hands cupped behind her back. She spun around several times, causing her hair to flow about in a manner that made Spike's heart flutter. Sapphire really WAS beautiful!

Spike walked onto the ice, fighting to keep his balance as his feet slid across the surface of the pond. He'd fought too hard and fell face first onto the ice, sending him spinning and sliding across the pond like a hockey puck. Sapphire laughed at this as she skidded over to Spike. "Oh, that was smooth."

Ignoring the comment, Spike picked himself back up to his feet, only to fall on his rear and Sapphire to giggle at his misfortune once again. "Here," she said, offering both paws to him. "Let me help you up."

The two dragons spun in slow circles, eyes locked onto each other. Spike had never felt his heart pound so hard. He longed to kiss her just once, but was this the right time? Distracted as he was, Spike's little feet slid out from under him before he could stop himself from falling. His weight pulled Sapphire down on top of him as he landed back-first onto the ice with a grunt. A few seconds passed before he realized Sapphire had him pinned down against the surface of the pond, her face only inches away from his. The little dragon trembled. Was she going to kiss him?

Though Spike had heard Sapphire do a fair share of giggling the past couple days, none made his nerves tingle more than the soft, nervous chuckle she gave off as her beautiful face looked down on him, lost in his eyes. Sapphire brought her face closer to Spike's and touched his cheek with her muzzle, an action that set the purple dragon's heart on fire. In the passing few seconds, he realized he might very well have found the best thing that ever happened to him.

A full backpack draped around her back, Twilight pushed open the door to the library a couple hours after leaving to gather some supplies for her research. Immediately she was nailed in the face by blaring music and falling streamers. At least two dozen ponies had gathered in the library, drinking punch, dancing to the music, conversing and giggling amongst themselves.

Twilight groaned in annoyance and gnashed her teeth, but still found herself unable to suppress her anger enough to keep from shouting out. "PINKIE PIE!"

A pink pony with curly hair sprung up to the front door, eyes closed and smiling. "Hiya Twilight! Welcome back!"

"Pinkie, I thought you said you were going to get this place cleaned up!"

"I did! But you were taking so long and I was bored so I decided to throw a party!"

"You mean make a bigger mess than the one that was here before I left!"

"Oh, don't you worry about that!" Pinkie waved a hoof to dismiss Twilight's outburst. "We'll get this place cleaned up before you can say 'jelly beans!' OK, EVERYPONY! ANYPONY WHO WANTS TO KEEP PARTYING HAS TO HELP CLEAN UP AFTERWARDS!"

All at once the room silenced. everypony stared at Pinkie in horror. A stampede shook the floor and rattled the books against the wall, leaving only Twilight and Pinkie in the library seconds later.

Twilight narrowed her brow. "You were saying?"

There was confetti all over the floor. A streamer had fallen from the ceiling, draped over an oak chair. Frosting and sprinkles all over the counter. Candy wrappers, straws, paper decorations and other such trash had been strewn all about the library, and the sight made Pinkie smile an embarrassed smile.

"Um… jelly beans?"

The sky had begun to darken when Sapphire and Spike returned to the dragon pepper bush, paw-in-paw. A beautiful orange sunset cast itself over the horizon, seemingly setting it on fire.

"Um, Spike?" Sapphire asked.

Spike turned his neck to see Sapphire brushing her foot across the grass, eyes looking to the ground instead of at him. "Yeah, Sapphire?"

"I…um…" She choked on the words with a giggle, took a deep breath to gather her courage and continued. "I… don't know how to ask this, so I'm just gonna come right out and ask. Would you… like to be… my boyfriend?"

Knees shuddering at the question, Spike took a few seconds to think. Boyfriend? As in BOYFRIEND boyfriend? A special romantic friend to be closer to a girl's heart than any other friend? "Do you mean, like, a-a-a boyfriend you're dating? Like, I'm your boyfriend and you're my girlfriend?"

"Of course that's what I mean, silly!"

Like he was going to turn THAT down. "Would I ever!"

The blue dragon continued to fidget. "So… we're boyfriend and girlfriend then?"

"I guess so," Spike replied as he scratched the back of his head.

For a few moments, the young dragons stared into each other's eyes, slowly moving their heads closer together. They shut their eyes as both braced for the moment, hearts fluttering. Sapphire dared a slight peek. She was only a few inches away from kissing Spike. But was she ready? No, she wasn't. Not yet. In that moment, she lost her nerve and took a step forward to snare Spike in a hug instead.

"Thanks," Sapphire said. She rested her chin on Spike's shoulder as he wrapped his little arms around her. "…Boyfriend."


	4. Chapter 4

The sunset cast all of Ponyville in a fiery orange hue that shone through the windows of Twilight Sparkle's library. Pinkie Pie had since inexplicably vanished, leaving the unicorn to fend for the cleanup on her own. Cake frosting still decorated the walls, a puddle of punch sat in the middle of the kitchen floor, and a mound of books rested against the library's rear shelf.

To the best of her ability, Twilight placed a book in an empty space between two others on the top shelf with her magic. The sparkling aura of magic hadn't even vanished before the exhausted unicorn flopped down on her belly and sighed. Until then she never realized how hard it would be getting work done without Spike there to help. The energy to pick herself up eluded her, so Twilight shut her eyes, within seconds lapsing into a dream. She and Spike had moved from Ponyville to Canterlot's library in order to accommodate Spike's size. Now a full grown dragon, he could easily reach the highest shelves in Canterlot's library. For a while, Twilight was happy that Spike had stuck with her until adulthood, then a pang of regret hit. Spike should have spread his wings and gone off on his own to see the world for himself, to see places and things Twilight had only read about in her books. More than that, she'd always looked forward to the day Spike could meet a nice young dragoness to spend his life with, and eventually have dragonlings of their own. She could imagine the baby reptiles sitting around her as she read them stories from a book.

The sound of the door opening pulled Twilight awake from her short-lived slumber. She lifted her head to find Spike stepping into the library, whistling all the while. "You're in a good mood this evening," the unicorn mumbled as she rested her chin against her flanks. "Something to do with your royal business?"

"Wha-?" Spike began to question Twilight's statement, as he couldn't recall going to Canterlot, but quickly remembered the letter he wrote that morning. "Oh, that. Nothing to worry about. It's on a need-to-know basis, strictly between dragons and alicorns. Um, Twilight, why are you laying on the floor?"

Twilight lifted her head in irritation and surprise. "But…" With a sigh, she rested her head back against the floor. "Oh, forget it. I'm too tired."

Spike scratched the top of his head. Had his absence really made things so difficult for Twilight? The little dragon bit his lip in an effort to think of something he could do for her, but he'd promised Sapphire to meet her again tomorrow morning. Indeed, he had something very special in mind for the dragoness. But how much longer could he keep juggling between the two? Eventually, he'd have to make a choice. The unicorn who hatched him from his egg and cared for him since his first breath, or the girl who had made him feel happier than he'd ever felt before?

"Uh, Twilight, are you okay?" Spike asked. However, the unicorn already had her eyes shut, pulled into another dream.

There was a stash of gems Spike had hidden under Twilight's bed to save for a rainy day, and the little dragon could think of nothing better to do with them than to share them with Sapphire in the morning. Spike covered his mouth to stifle a sleepy yawn as he walked to the top of the stairs; then snuggled into his bed to get some sleep. The sooner morning, came the better.

Morning's golden light shone in through the window above Spike's bed, forcing him awake for the day. Twilight wasn't in her bed. She must have already gotten up, or was still asleep on the floor downstairs. Either way, Spike couldn't afford to waste any time. He sat up, yawned, rubbed his eyes and crawled underneath Twilight's bed to retrieve the basket of gems stashed there. As if the smell of those delicious gemstones wasn't tempting enough, the sight of them made Spike's stomach rumble in anticipation of just one sweet, delicious ruby. Spike shook his head in an effort to stave his appetite. It could wait until he met up with Sapphire.

As best as he could carrying a basket almost as large as his own body, Spike eased his way down the stairs, careful not to miss a step and trip. A snoring that grew louder as Spike neared the bottom of the stairs assured him that Twilight was still sound asleep. How perfect. He shuffled his feet across the floor so to not make any noise, and inched his way out the front door.

Ponyville was all but dead and quiet at such an early hour; most of the ponies were still asleep. This gave Spike the perfect opportunity to sneak out of town unnoticed as best as he could, carrying the heavy basket of gems. His walk felt more of a stumble, but he used his desire to share his loot with Sapphire to press on.

After what felt like a couple hours of traveling, Spike finally reached the quiet meadow with the Dragon Pepper bush, where Sapphire's blue waving form awaited him. Spike's fatigue seemed to wash away at the sight of the dragoness, who ran after Spike to meet him head on.

"I…I made it," Spike panted as he dropped the wicker basket onto the grass, afterwards collapsing onto the top of the pile of gems.

"You took so long, Spike! I was worried you might not show up." Sapphire looked at the basket underneath Spike's collapsed, wheezing form. "What's this?"

"Well, I…" Spike climbed off the top of the basket to present Sapphire with the load of sweet, delicious gemstones. "I brought us some breakfast."

"Wow! Nice haul, Spike! Where did you find all these?"

Spike looked to the ground, scratching the back of his head. "Well, I've been saving them for at least the last year. No one else I know likes to eat gems, so I thought I'd share them with you."

A coy smile formed on Sapphire's face before she lunged forward to embrace Spike in a hug. His heart began to thump from the gesture.

"That's so nice of you, Spike. You're the sweetest dragon I know."

Spike's heart pounded harder. Rarity had told him the same thing before, but it was different hearing it come from another dragon. "Um… don't mention it. You… want to eat the first gem?" Spike asked as Sapphire let Spike out of the hug.

"I'd love to!"

A bright, flawless ruby sat among the gems on the top of the pile, sparkling in the morning sunlight. It looked the most delicious of the gems she could see, so Sapphire plucked it from the pile and popped it in her mouth, giving a slight belch afterwards. "Mmm! You really know how to choose your gems!"

"That's what they tell me," Spike replied suavely. He grabbed the next gem, a dazzling yellow slab of topaz with a delicate flavor something like a mix of lemon and pineapple. As Spike licked the remaining flavor from his fingers, Sapphire helped herself to another gem.

It went on like that, both dragons taking turns at the gems until a single diamond remained in the bottom of the basket. For a moment, Spike gazed at Sapphire, contemplating whether to give the diamond to her or take the last gem for himself. The dragoness giggled and shied her eyes away from Spike's gaze. For some reason, Spike couldn't bring himself to ask if she wanted it, so he reached his hand into the basket to claim the diamond for himself. As the jewel became veiled under Spike's paw, something soft warmed the top of it. 

Sapphire had reached for the gem at the same time he did, Spike realized, but after a few seconds she still had not lifted her paw from his. He could feel his fash flush red as he looked up to see if Sapphire was blushing as well. Something in her eyes, a feminine sort of sparkle he'd never seen before, glued his eyes to hers. In that moment, the diamond no longer mattered. His entire world seemed to silence as the dragoness shut her eyes and brought her head slowly closer to Spike's.

Responding in kind, Spike felt more of the world around him vanish. Here, it was just Sapphire and him as he trembled in anticipation for the moment to come. If it ever came and she didn't chicken out this time.

At long last, something soft, warm and moist pressed against Spike's snout. The little dragon trembled harder. He could smell Sapphire's breath as she exhaled through her nose. Time seemed to stand still; it was impossible for him to tell how long their snouts had actually touched. It could have been only a second, or five seconds. Sure, Rarity had kissed him on the cheek before, but this was his first kiss on the maw.

Spike's body tingled as the world around him faded in just in time to see Sapphire pulling her head back from his. He pressed his paw to his lips, noticing that Sapphire was doing the same thing, her face a shade of purple from blushing mixed with her blue scales.

"Wow," she said. "That was…nice."

"Yeah." Spike was too stunned to say much else, for as he looked at Sapphire, a startling realization hit him full force. He hadn't realized until now, but after that kiss, there was no doubt in his mind. Sapphire had SURPASSED the unicorn who had captured his heart. As he stared at Sapphire, he knew now that there was a creature in Equestria more beautiful than Rarity!


	5. Chapter 5

Twilight Sparkle stepped into the library later that afternoon with a saddlebag thrown over her back, loaded with various supplies for studying peppers and for cleaning. As soon as the purple unicorn stepped in, every muscle in her body froze at what awaited her.

The library had been wiped down to a cleanliness that sparkled in the sunlight coming from the window. All the books had been neatly arranged on the shelves and all the dishes clean. Fluttershy was in the back of the library, dusting the top shelf with a rag as her little wings flutted gently. Rainbow Dash was scraping a final blotch of cake frosting from the ceiling while Applejack arranged the dishes neatly where they belonged.

"What is this about?" Twilight asked the five other ponies in the room.

A hopping, grinning pink pony awaited Twilight at she entered. "Hiya, Twi! Lookie what we did! Lookie what we did!"

Fluttershy turned around to face the source of the voice, giving a startled little gasp as she did. "Oh, hi Twilight. Rainbow Dash told us you were having trouble keeping up on your chores and convinced us to help clean up."

"Wow. Thanks, everypony, this is so thoughtful of you." Twilight turned her head to pan the library, still in awe at how clean it had become in only the hour since she'd left.

"Aw shoot, don't you fret about it, sugarcube." Applejack gave a wave of dismissal. "After all, what're friends for?"

After descending to the floor, Dash stood on her rear hooves, cupping her forehooves behind her back. "I'm really sorry I broke your statue, Twilight. I might never be able to make up for it but I figured this was a start."

"About that," Rarity said as she stepped in from a seperate room with a fully restored statue hovering in front of her. "I used my magic for beautifying to repair that priceless bust! Rainbow Dash, you simply must take more care when flying around indoors." The statue floated in the air until Rarity placed it back on the stand it once sat on. It was as if nothing had ever happened.

"Wow, everypony… thanks." Twilight took a few more moments to look around at the sparkling clean library and the statue that had been perfectly repaired. She supposed she should have been happy, but all she could do was exhale and hang her head in disappointment. The other five watched their friend mope up the stairs to her bedroom, then looked at each other in confusion. Something was definitely wrong with Twilight, and it was obvious it wasn't how messy the library had been.

Taking point, Rarity didn't need to invite the others as she followed Twilight up the stairs into her fellow unicorn's bedroom. The violet pony stretched out across her bed with her head buried into her pillow.

"Twilight, dahling, whatever is the matter?" Rarity's voice was filled with genuine concern.

"Oh, my," Fluttershy's soft whisper came from behind Rarity, "were we intruding? I'm sorry… I hadn't thought of that."

"No, I appreciate it, really." Twilight replied, her voice muffled into her pillow.

"Then let's turn that frown upside down!" Pinkie shouted with a smile. "We worked really hard to clean this place up!"

"I'm fine," Twilight replied in a voice that contradicted her statement.

"Don't sound much like yer fine to me, sugarcube." Applejack looked around the room at the other ponies, then back to Twilight. "I can't speak for the rest of us, but I ain't budgin' 'till you tell me what's eatin' you."

"Yeah, we cleaned up your library and fixed your statue, so what's the problem?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight lifted her head from the pillow and sniffed. Her eyes, puffy and wide, scanned each of the five ponies in the room. All of her friends were there, and they'd worked so hard to help her. All of her friends, except for one little dragon. "It's Spike. I think he's been avoiding me on purpose the last few days, and I don't know what it is I said or did to him. He left this morning without even telling me! Did I work him too hard? Did I violate some sort of dragon code of conduct?" Frustrated, Twilight slammed her face back down into her pillow.

"Oh, for cryin' out loud, it's got nothin' to do with you, Twilight!" Dash shouted. "Spike just found himself a girlfriend, that's all!"

"Wait, what?" Twilight looked up at Rainbow Dash in confusion. "Since when?"

"At least the last couple of days. He's been spending his time with her."

"Um, Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy whispered, "I thought we weren't going to tell…"

"I'm sorry, Fluttershy, but I hate to see a friend so down like this," Dash replied.

Twilight turned to Fluttershy, looking incredulously at the pegasus. "Fluttershy? You knew, too? And you didn't tell me?"

As Fluttershy wilted under the volume of Twilight's voice, a sympathetic hoof touched her shoulder. Twilight turned her head to find Dash with her hoof stretched out to her. "We were going to let Spike tell you himself, but I guess he lost his nerve."

A look of confusion that melted into a smile spread across Twilight's face. "Spike… a girlfriend? Is this a joke?"

"Ok," Rainbow Dash answered, "maybe I'm the kind who might pull a fast one like that on you, but would Fluttershy?"

"It's true," Fluttershy replied. "A girl dragon."

A few silent moments passed as Twilight assessed the situation. Spike had a girlfriend? That little dragon was growing up faster than she'd realized. How long would it be before last night's dream came true and Spike was fully-grown? With the way the years had flown since she'd hatched Spike, he'd be an adult in no time.

Rarity had remained silent in disbelief during the discussion as she felt an odd mix of happiness and disappointment at the news. Of course, it was positively darling that he'd found a young female dragon to give his heart to, but a brief surge of emptiness hit. What about…her? Rarity sighed through her nose. If only Spike were about ten years older…and a pony. He was one of the sweetest and most generous beings she knew.

"Well, that is certainly splendid news," the white unicorn finally spoke, feigning the best smile she could. "I'll bet they look simply darling together."

"What's with that tone?" Applejack asked. "Rarity, yer not jealous, are ya?"

Gnashing her teeth to fight the sudden embarrassment, Rarity giggled. "Who, me? Come now, Applejack. That is a ridiculous implication. Why should I be jealous?"

Smiling wide, Pinkie Pie resumed her cheerful bouncing in place. "Ooh! Ooh! We should tell Spike to bring her to Ponyville! We could throw her a great big party with cake and ice cream and punch and soda and candy and games!"

Ignoring Pinkie Pie's excited characteristic rant; Twilight rubbed her hoof on her chin in thought of what to say to Spike when he came home.

"Feelin' better now, Twigh?" Applejack asked.

"A little bit. And when Spike gets home I'm going to get to the bottom of this!"

Meanwhile…

The two little dragons walked paw-in-paw through a sandy trail that cut through a thick blanket of trees, their leaves dancing slowly in the breeze. Spike looked down at his waist. He'd strapped a small leather belt with an attached pouch to his waist that morning just before leaving the library. Recalling how Sapphire had frozen the lake the day before, Spike stopped and rubbed the pouch with his free hand.

Sapphire jarred from Spike's sudden stop, dragging him forward a couple of steps. Taken by surprise from the sudden movement, Spike fought to maintain his balance and buckled his knees.

"What's wrong, Spike? Why'd you stop like that?"

"Well, I was just thinking. You showed me a cool trick yesterday. Would you like to see a cool trick of my own?"

"Sure!"

From the belt strapped to his waist, Spike produced a scroll of parchment and a feather quill. He unrolled the scroll and scribbled something on the sheet before rolling it back up to belch a small jet of green flame on the scroll. In an instant, the parchment faded away. Before Sapphire could make anything of the display, a belch of her own forced its way out of her maw, along with the same scroll Spike had just made disappear. Without a word, she grabbed the scroll from midair, unwrapped it and read the letter Spike had written.

"Hi."

Sapphire looked up at Spike. He could teleport letters with his breath? Maybe she could do it, too! Without asking permission, Sapphire snatched the quill from Spike's paw and scribbled a note of her own on the parchment. She held the scroll in front of her mouth and belched a cloud of icy breath on it. Within a second, the scroll vanished and Spike spat it back out.

"Hello."

Spike looked at Sapphire for a few seconds. So he wasn't the only dragon who could teleport letters with a breath, and Sapphire wanted to make a little game with it.

With a sly smile, Spike took the quill back away from Sapphire to write another, much longer note underneath hers. Sapphire attempted a peek, forcing Spike to turn around to hide the letter from her prying eyes. A duet of belches followed, and Sapphire unraveled the scroll to read Spike's note out loud.

"You are the most beautiful dragon in all of Equestria." Smiling wide, Sapphire looked back up at Spike, who was blushing and twisting his foot into the sand. "Awwwww!"

The dragoness took the quill one more time and wrote yet another note underneath Spike's before belching the scroll back to him. Spike grabbed the scroll from midair and unrolled it. "You are the sweetest dragon in all of Equestria."

Spike looked up at Sapphire, who was smiling and blushing at him. Their eyes locked for a few moments; then both dragons fell over on their backs, clutching their stomachs in laughter.


	6. Chapter 6

Spike entered the library that evening, whistling and dancing his way up the stairs, all the way into his little basket bed. This oddly jubilant behavior brought Twilight's attention away from the book she'd been reading. Now was the time to get to the bottom of things!

The unicorn shut her book with her magic; then followed Spike up the stairs to her room.

"Spike?" The clopping of Twilight's hooves against the wooden steps filled the library.

"Oh, Spiiiiike!"

Spike opened his eyes as he laid on his back in his bed to find the purple unicorn standing above him.

"Yeah, Twilight?" Spike answered with a lovesick sigh.

"I know you've been keeping something from me, Spike."

_Uh-oh. Busted. _Spike forced the smile away in an effort to place innocent. "What are you talking about?"

Twilight flashed a knowing smile as she looked Spike right in the eyes. "Who is she, Spike?"

"Who's who?"

"Don't 'who's who' me, Spike. I know about your new girlfriend."

Gritting his teeth to fight the sudden ager burning in his gut, Spike sat up. "Rainbow Dash spilled the beans, didn't she?"

"I'm sorry, Spike. I didn't ask her to."

"You're not mad at me, are you?"

"Maybe a little annoyed." Twilight rolled her eyes. "But mostly I'm happy for you!"

"I thought if you found out, you might think I didn't want to be your number one assistant anymore."

"Of course not! Why would you think that, Spike?"

"Because I've been wanting to spend time with Sapphire instead of with you?"

"It just means that you really like this girl. I would have understood if you'd just told me. In fact, why don't you bring her on over to Ponyville sometime? I'd love to meet her!"

Spike stood up from his bed to embrace Twilight around the torso. "Thanks, Twi. You really are the best."

Bring her on over to Ponyville. That thought brought an idea to Spike's mind as he let go of Twilight and turned back for the stairs.

"Where are you going now?" the unicorn asked.

"I gotta go talk to Pinkie Pie really quick. Don't worry, I'll be back within the hour."

Twilight smiled. Pinkie Pie was always the first pony anypony went to when they needed to plan for a party, and she had a feeling a welcoming party for Sapphire was what Spike had in mind.

The next morning…

"I don't know about this, Spike. Most other creatures I've known get a little anxious with a strange dragon around. We're not exactly known as the type of creatures who make new friends."

"Don't worry!" Spike answered. "They're my friends, Sapphire. They won't kick you out of town or anything like that."

Most of the ponies enjoying the mid-morning sunshine went about their business paying little attention to the two dragons. Some of the ponies were tending to the gardens in their yard, a few of them had spiraling horns coming from their foreheads. Unicorns, as Sapphire's parents had taught her. A few other ponies fluttered about the sky with feathery wings. Pegasus ponies.

Several ponies, including a lazy-eyed blond pegasus, stopped what they were doing at the sight of the strange dragon walking through their village. The wide, untrusting eyes of the ponies followed Spike and Sapphire as the baby dragons made their way through Ponyville.

"Spike." Sapphire pulled herself closer to her new boyfriend for comfort. "Why are they staring at me? Maybe we should turn back."

"Uh, we don't get a lot of strangers in Ponyville, that's all. Don't let it get to you," Spike answered, unable to come up with any other consolation.

Spike lead Sapphire through the town of ponies until the dragon duo reached a building carved from a tree on the edge of town. "This is where I live," Spike explained. He held an open palm towards the door. "Why don't you go on in first?"

Sapphire turned the knob and stepped in the door to be greeted by a loud "SURPRISE!" that nearly knocked her off her feet.

Six ponies were inside the library, all smiling at their new arrival. Hanging from the ceiling above them was a large tissue banner that read, "Welcome, Sapphire!" Streamers flew through the air. A few balloons were scattered about the room, and a delicious looking cake sat on a table standing against the far wall of the room.

"Wow. This is neat! Did you set this up, Spike?"

"Um, yeah. I did. Pinkie Pie did most of the work, though."

At the mention of her name, a bright eyed smiling pink pony bounced up to the two dragons. "Hi there! I'm Pinkie Pie, and let me be the first to welcome you to Ponyville! Spike's told us all about you, it's great to meet you, it's so cute that little Spike has a girlfriend! So what's your name? Where are you from? How old are you? Do you like cupcakes? I LOVE cupcakes! Blueberry cupcakes, lemon cupcakes, vanilla cupcakes! Cupcakes with sprinkles and chocolate frosting and cherries on top!"

Sapphire turned away from Pinkie's seemingly infinite rant to shoot a shrug at Spike as if to say "what's going on?"

"Eh, don't mind her," Spike said as Pinkie continued with her nonsensical monologue. "She's just being Pinkie Pie."

"Nice to meet you, Pinkie." Sapphire turned around to shake Pinkie's hoof. "If you're Spike's friend, then you're my friend!"

Pinkie's big blue eyes seemed to glow at Sapphire's last word. "Friend!" With no warning, the pink pony snatched Sapphire in a hug she thought would crush her spine and pop her insides out through her mouth. "Oh, I'm so happy to be your friend! Because I'm everypony's friend, and now I'm every dragon's friend, too!"

It took Sapphire a few seconds to catch her breath after Pinkie set her back down. After such a tight hug, it was miracle she'd ever breathe properly again. "Wow, thanks. I wasn't expecting this. I didn't think I'd be welcome here."

"Not welcome?" a mare with a wide brimmed hat and blond ponytail smiled, raising an eyebrow. "Why in Equestria would you think you wouldn't be welcome here? This here town's got the friendliest buncha ponies I ever met!"

"Because I'm a dragon who didn't grow up here?"

"Aw, shoot, don't y'all give it another lick of thought. Any friend of Spike's is welcome here! Especially one he speaks so fondly of."

Sapphire blushed and fidgeted at the thought that Spike had told all his pony friends good things about her. "Well, I have only good things to say about Spike, too."

"Name's Applejack," the cowgirl continued, "pleased to be makin' yer acquaintance!"

"Likewise," Sapphire replied as Applejack gave a polite bow.

A violet unicorn with wide bangs was the next one to step forward from the crowd of ponies. "Hello! I'm Twilight Sparkle."

Sapphire smiled wide, shaking Twilight's hoof. "So YOU'RE the Twilight Spike's told me so much about. My name's Sapphire."

"It's nice to meet you, Sapphire. I can tell you, you're one lucky little dragon for winding up with Spike."

Smiling, Sapphire leaned her head on Spike's shoulder. "I already know that."

"So, you're the one who's been looking after Spikey-Wikey this past week. It's a pleasure… I suppose." A white unicorn stepped forward to greet Sapphire.

The name Spikey-Wikey forced the purple dragon into a facepalm, though he swallowed his desire to protest the embarrassing name.

"I guess that would be me. And you are?"

The unicorn held one hoof to her chest in pride. "Rarity, of course. I'm sure Spike's mentioned a thing or two about me… right?"

"You might have come up once or twice. I'm sorry, he hasn't said much about you."

Though she feigned a smile, on the inside Rarity was boiling like a whistling teakettle. Her right eye twitched with her effort to restrain her growing frustration. "Oh, well that's quite alright, darling. After all, not everypony can be popular, right?" Rarity's curly purple locks danced as she gave her head a little shake.

A blue pegasus hovering in midair suddenly caught Sapphire's attention. A rainbow of six different colors streaked down her mane and tail. "Let me guess," Sapphire said, pointing a claw at the pony suspended in midair, "you're Rainbow Dash."

"THE Rainbow Dash!" Just to show off a little bit, Dash did a midair backflip. "Why? Have ya heard of me?"

"Not much other than what Spike's mentioned."

There was one pony among the crowd who had not taken the initiative to introduce herself. A pegasus who radiated tense nerves behind two locks of long pink hair.

"Oh, you must be Fluttershy. The quiet one."

Drooping under the weight of the sudden attention, the pink haired pegasus scraped her hoof across the floor, her eyes averted to the wall. "Um… yes."

"Isn't this great?" Pinkie bounced up and down in place, eyes shut tight with glee. "Now you've met all of us and we're ALL your friends! Come on, everypony! Let's cut the cake and play some games!"

The rest of the morning and early afternoon was spent playing games, eating cake and drinking punch. Sapphire had proven to be talented at Pin the Tail on the Pony, as well as a skilled dancer thanks to her dexterous footwork which Spike had seen before on the frozen pond.

Spike's friends told her the stories of their adventures, like how they freed Princess Luna from the corruption of Night Mare Moon, or their battle against a wacky entity known only as Discord. They'd also had several run ins with dragons in the past, which only amazed her further that she was welcome in Ponyville.

As the afternoon rolled on, Spike's friends left one by one until only the two dragons and Twilight Sparkle remained inside the library. With the party over, Twilight suggested that Spike show Sapphire around Ponyville while she went about the cleanup.

Not that there was much to show. Ponyville was only a tiny village, and Sapphire had already met most of Spike's friends. There was one thing on Spike's mind, however.

Revenge.

For there was Rainbow Dash, the sole patron sitting at Ponyville's sandwich shop. Spike couldn't believe his luck! Having vengeance in mind before he left Twilight's library, he'd managed to sneak a couple Dragon Peppers out with him. This was the perfect time to use them.

"Sapphire," Spike whispered to the dragoness holding his paw. Without a word she leaned in for Spike to explain the plan to her.

"You sure?" Sapphire asked.

"Oh yeah." Spike let out a malicious chuckle. "She was spying on us the other day, you know."

Sapphire hadn't known that until know. She shared Spike's sinister grin. "Do it."

"Ok, on three. Ready? One, two… three."

Spike darted inside a nearby bush. Sapphire sauntered innocently up to Dash as she was about to take the first bite of her sandwich. "Um, Rainbow Dash, I hate to bother you, but I need your help with something."

Rainbow brought her attention away from her sandwich to look at the little dragon. "What's the matter, shrimp?"

"I can't find Spike. I was wondering if you could fly around and see if you can spot him for me."

"Playing hide and seek, is he? Well you've come to the right pegasus! I was QUEEN of hide and seek when I was a filly! You just wait right here, kid. I'll find him in ten seconds flat!"

More eager to show off to a stranger than to actually help her, Dash bolted into the sky; out of sight. Rainbow had taken the bait. Sapphire waved for Spike to go.

The coast was clear. Peppers in paw, Spike crept out of the bush, tiptoed onto the patio of the restaurant and slipped two peppers inconspicuously into Dash's sandwich. The trap had been set. Spike jumped back inside the bush just as Dash came back into view in the sky.

"Sorry, kid. I couldn't find him. Guess I'm a little rusty."

Sapphire shook her head. "No, that's ok. Thanks for looking."

"Why not go find Pinkie Pie? She LOVES hide and seek!"

"I might do that. Thanks again!"

The sandwich beckoned for Dash's attention at the growl of her stomach. Sapphire had walked away. With no further interruptions, Rainbow opened her moth wide and bit off a large chunk of her food.

Blinking her eyes in confusion, Dash chewed more slowly. Something was… different about this sandwich. For some reason, her mouth was growing warmer. There was a distinctively peppery aftertaste after she swallowed, but she hadn't ordered for any peppers on the sandwich. The tingling sensation in her mouth had grown from warm to hot to absolutely burning in a matter of seconds. Dash held her hooves to her mouth to stifle a groan of pain, sending out a puff of smoke as she did.

"Water! WATER!" After a pained shout, Dash burst into the air, swinging her head from left to right, desperately searching for some sort of solace from the burning. There was a small lake off in the distance. A plume of smoke trailed after the rainbow pegasus as she shot off through the air. A loud splash followed soon after.

Both baby dragons fell over on their backs, their stomachs tightening with fits of uncontrollable laughter.

"Nice one, Spike!"


	7. Chapter 7

Sugar Cube Corner stood out among the rest of the buildings in Ponyville. It almost looked like a literal gingerbread house. The roof had been painted to look like a graham cracker lined with white frosting. A large, cupcake shaped tower with three giant candles stuck out above the roof, and two poles colored like candy canes held up the awning above the door. It was easily one of the strangest buildings Sapphire had ever seen.

"Hey, Spike." Sapphire tapped her boyfriend on the shoulder to nab his attention; then pointed at the sweetsy looking house. "What's that building?"

"Oh, you mean Sugar Cube Corner? That's the local sweets shop. Hey! I'll bet Pinkie Pie would give us both a free ice cream cone if we stopped in to say 'hi.'"

Spike stumbled under the weight of Sapphire's forward momentum. She'd nearly pulled his arm off!

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Sapphire shouted as she drug Spike all the way inside the bakery.

Behind the counter, Pinkie busied herself stirring some kind of batter in a glass bowl. She took one look at the dragons entering her shop, smiled and set the bowl down. "Well, if it isn't my two favorite dragons!" Pinkie hopped up to the counter. "Hiya Spike, Sapphy! What brings you to Sugar Cube Corner? Oh! Did you come to try those cupcakes with chocolate and sprinkles and cherries on top like I told you about? They're really good! I can eat fifteen of them in one sitting!"

"Actually, we just came in to say hi," Spike said.

Pinkie's smile grew even wider. "Awww, well that's so nice of you to come see me while I'm working! Why not take a couple ice cream cones. It's on the house." Lost in sudden thought, Pinkie stared up at the roof. "Or would that be, 'it's on the bakery?' I dunno. What I mean is, they're free!"

The ice cream cone wasn't the first free thing given to Sapphire that day. Spike had also taken her to Sweet Apple Acres, where she was treated to some of the Apple Family's sweet apple pie. Despite her parents always telling her that ponies, like many other creatures, had no reason to trust dragons, Sapphire knew that Spike's friends had all gone through a lot of expense and effort to welcome her into their home as if they'd known her her entire life. These ponies certainly weren't like the dragons Sapphire had met. These ponies were friendly and selfless.

The two dragons sat paw-in-paw on the balcony of Twilight's library, watching the stars appear in the evening sky. They'd cuddled so close together that the scales on their sides scraped against one another with the slightest movement.

"I really like your friends, Spike. They're a lot of fun. Especially Pinkie!"

"I told you so, huh?" Spike gave Sapphire a gentle nudge, which she answered with a kiss to his cheek.

"Ok, you got me there." Recalling the nickname Rarity had given Spike, Sapphire giggled. "Spikey-Wikey."

"Hey, don't call me that."

"Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it?"

In an effort to pin Sapphire to the ground, Spike shifted his weight towards her. It worked; Sapphire fell over on her back, but Spike didn't take the opportunity to pin her has he'd planned. Instead, he wrapped one arm around her ankle as the dragoness gave him a confused look. "I'm gonna tickle you until you promise not to call me that again!"

Sapphire giggled and squirmed as Spike brushed the tip of his claw against the sole of her foot. Hard as she fought, she couldn't escape Spike's grip. "No! Stop! I-I won't say it again!"

The tickling finally stopped, which allowed Sapphire sit up and catch her breath from the giggling that had squeezed all the air from her lungs. "Okay," she panted, "my turn!"

With no warning, the dragoness sprang up to tackle Spike to the ground, grab him around the ankle and run the tip of her claw against his foot.

"Okay!" Spike laughed, kicking all the while in an effort to free himself. "Okay! I'm sorry!"

It was Spike's turn to drop to his stomach, gasping for air. Sapphire crawled over to him, bringing her side against his. She rested her neck over his, and their tails entwined like a pair of snakes. Spike's heart pounded.

"Spike?" Sapphire asked softly.

"Yeah?"

"I… I…"

"You what?"

"Um… never mind. Can we just lay here like this for a while?"

Twilight Sparkle yawned. The last dull light of dusk had faded, and it had been a long day. She could continue her studies in the morning. Her magic closed to book on plants she'd been reading and rested it on a nightstand. With one more yawn, Twilight trudged up the stairs to her room.

An adorable sight just out the window of the patio caught Twilight's attention. The baby dragons were cuddled up in a ball with Sapphire's neck resting on top of Spike's. A pair of little tails curled around each other like the stripes on a candy cane. Both had their eyes shut, apparently asleep in their cuddled position. Their heads made two adjacent lumps, with their bodies curving downward to form a single intersecting tip at their tails. Intentional or not, the two dragons had formed what resembled a scaly heart. How cute.

With a smile, Twilight summoned a bit of magic energy into her horn. A glittering aura engulfed the blanket tucked across Spike's bed. The cloth lifted into the air, waving like a flag as Twilight guided it outside to the patio and draped it over the sleeping reptiles, gently so not to wake them.

They hadn't moved. With that taken care of, Twilight nested into her bed to get some sleep of her own.


	8. Chapter 8

*Author's note: given that this is easily my most popular story and has a good number of followers, without trying to give away any spoilers, I would forewarn to have a tissue or two handy before reading this chapter =(*

A bright beam of morning sunlight pried Spike's eyes open for the day. He stretched and yawned, a bit surprised to find his blanket draped over him. More surprising was the fact that Sapphire was not laying next him as she was before they fell asleep. Spike crawled out from under the blanket and stepped into the library.

Downstairs, Twilight busied herself making breakfast, but Sapphire was nowhere to be found. A sleepy-eyed Spike drug himself down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Oh, good morning Spike," Twilight said as she stirred a pot of oatmeal with a wooden spoon manipulated by her magic.

"Morning, Twi. Have you seen Sapphire?"

"Actually, yeah. She left about an hour ago. Didn't say where she was going, but she gave me a note to pass onto you. It's on the table."

Spike turned and walked towards the table. There was a piece of paper there. He picked it up and read it to himself.

-Spike,

Sorry I didn't tell you this myself, but I didn't want to wake you. My parents can talk to me over long distances with magic. They woke me up and said they had something important to tell me. I'll be at our usual spot if you want to meet me again later today.

Your girlfriend, Sapphire. XOXO.

"Twilight," Spike said after placing the note back down on the table. "Would it be alright if I went and saw Sapphire after breakfast?"

Still stirring the pot of oatmeal, Twilight spoke. "Well… I suppose. But I get you all day tomorrow, ok?"

"You got it!"

After eating a breakfast of oatmeal, Spike walked along the countryside path that lead to the little meadow where he first met Sapphire. She wasn't there when he arrived. Was she playing hide and seek again?

"Sapphire?" Spike yelled. He stepped closer to the pepper bush in the middle of the meadow. "Sapphire, I'm here!"

Something was wrong. It was too quiet. No answer from Sapphire. Maybe she was at the pond. Spike turned towards the thick blanket of trees that lead to the pond. A sense of ill omen sent him running through the dirt path under he could see the water sparkling in the distance. As the trees thinned out, there was Sapphire, sitting on the bank of the pond with her feet in the water.

"There you are." Spike stepped closer and sat next to her. She didn't answer.

Something Spike couldn't see tapped the surface of the pond, creating a series of small ripples that cascaded across the water. Looking up, Spike watched Sapphire wipe her eyes and sniff.

"Sapphire, are you…crying?"

Visibly gritting her teeth, the dragoness trembled. She sniffed again, eyes shut tight as if in great pain. Sure enough, a tear crawled its way down her cheek, leaving a wet trail along its path before it dropped off her face to send another series of ripples across the glittering surface of the pond.

"Hey, you're crying. What's wrong?" Spike scooted closer to embrace Sapphire for comfort. Almost immediately she buried her tearful face into his shoulder.

"Spike…" Sapphire sniffed again. "My parents…" Spike felt Sapphire tremble harder, as if the words were too difficult to speak. Had something bad happened to her parents?

"What happened?" Spike asked after a few seconds of silence.

"My parents are leaving Equestria today, and I have to go with them. I just found out. That's why they wanted to talk to me."

Spike's fins drooped, along with his heart. "But, if you leave Equestria… when will we ever see each other again?"

"I know! Why do you think I'm so upset?" Sapphire grabbed Spike so tight he could barely breathe, but he wasn't about to push her away in a moment of need. "I don't want to go, Spike!"

"Well… maybe you don't have to. You can come live with Twilight and me. I know she'd let you, and she could always use extra help."

Sapphire pulled herself away and placed her hands on Spike's shoulders. Looking him in the eyes, she dismissed the notion with a shake of her head. "No, I can't. They're my parents. I can't just leave them. They're my only family. Don't you understand what that means?"

Sighing, Spike sunk under Sapphire's gaze, his eyes turned to the ground. "I guess I don't."

"What do you mean?"

. but she is the closest thing I've had to one."

Unable to fight the sympathy and her sadness, Sapphire wrapped Spike in another bear hug. "I'm so sorry, Spike. I never knew."

"Not your fault."

Sapphire trembled. All the tears, all the sadness she'd been holding back came out when Spike returned her embrace, rubbing her back for comfort. She cried and sobbed into Spike's shoulder, a sound that chilled Spike's heart with regret. It was enough to move Spike to tears himself. It was hard enough seeing Sapphire so sad, but to know he wouldn't be able to be there for her the next morning was too much.

"Spike?" Sapphire's shaky voice asked. "You're not gonna cry, too, are you?"

"I'm trying not to."

"Please don't. I'm crying enough for the both of us."

Though it took every fiber of his being, Spike managed to choke down the tears long enough for Sapphire to calm down. Once her sobbing had stopped, she let go of Spike and turned back to her reflection on the surface of the water. Both dragons sat down on the bank of the pond and dipped their little feet into the water as they wiped their eyes.

"You know, I wasn't lying when I said you're the sweetest dragon I've ever met. All the other boy dragons I've met have been mean and rude. They'd push me down, throw rocks at me, pull my hair, some of them would even hit me."

"Are you sure they weren't just teasing you because they like you?"

"No, this was different. All of them, they lived by old dragon rules: if you can beat another dragon up, you're better than them. If you're mean to someone and they don't fight back, they're weaker than you. If you can take something from another dragon, it's yours. They'd steal from me. Steal from my parents. Sometimes they would even…" Sapphire shut her eyes tight to fight back more tears. "Call me ugly."

"Well, you're by far the prettiest dragon I've ever met, if that helps." Spike watched his reflection blush at his own comment.

"And that's what I like about you." Sapphire scooted closer to lean her head on his shoulder and wrap her tail around his. "You're not like them at all. You're sweet and kind and giving. What if I never meet another dragon like you?"

"Eh, not like I'm much of a catch," Spike answered as he looked his reflection over. "Look at these skinny little arms."

"It's the strength of your heart I like, not the strength of your body." Sapphire gave Spike a kiss on the cheek to reassure him, then pulled her feet out of the water and stood up. "Maybe… we should stop this. Maybe you should go before we make my leaving harder than it already is."

A mournful sigh escaped Spike's snout before he stood up, face to face with the girl who had captured his heart. The girl he could be seeing for the last time. Scraping his foot across the sandy bank, Spike struggled for something appropriate to say. What WAS the right thing to say when your heart was in pieces, and could be the last thing you say to the girl in front of you?

"I don't know… what to say. Or what to do."

It was too hard for little Sapphire to look Spike in the eye. Instead her sights were set towards the ground as she twisted her foot into the sand. "Maybe just a quick goodbye would be easiest."

More tears welled up in Spike's eyes. "But, I don't want to say goodbye."

"Me either. But do we have a choice?"

Sapphire's head still hung towards the ground, prompting Spike to step within arm's reach. Gently, he lifted Sapphire's chin up with a finger, forcing her to look him in the eye. "Goodbye, Sapphire. Don't worry, we can still write to each other, right? Just remember that trick I taught you".

Sapphire sighed as she stepped forward to embrace him one more time. "I don't want to leave, but I have to. I…I love you, Spike. Don't… don't ever change."

Love. The word set Spike's heart on fire. No one except Twilight had told him they love him. Was that what Spike had been feeling for Sapphire? That sensation, warm and fuzzy; yet alarming at the same time. Spike took a few seconds to look deep within for the answer; then spoke. "I love you, too."

A dark, ominous shadow engulfed the duo. Spike pulled himself away from Sapphire to see what it was. Above them, two enormous reptilian forms loomed, batlike wings splitting the air like the winds of a tornado. One was a dark shade of blue with a heavy, muscular form. The dragon beside him was much sleeker and a lighter shade of blue that was closer to Sapphires.

"We're ready, Sapphire," said the sleeker dragon. The larger dragon stared Spike down with the ever watchful eye of a protective father. "Finish your goodbye with your friend and let us go."

Sapphire's sights had been set towards her parents, but now she looked at Spike once more. Spike brought his attention away from the enormous adult dragons and returned Sapphire's gaze.

"Goodbye, Spike. I hope we can meet again someday. Until then, don't forget to write."

"I won't forget."

With one last quick hug and a kiss on Spike's cheek, Sapphire followed behind her parents, affording one more look back at Spike before she vanished in the thick blanket of trees.

What now? Spike wanted to collapse right there on the sandy bank and cry. He'd heard the phrase "love hurts" before, but until now he had no idea just how much it could hurt. It felt like Rainbow Dash had gone into a sonic rainboom and crashed right into his heart, shattering it into a thousand pieces.

To Spike's surprise, Sapphire's father turned around in midflight, gazing down at the young dragon. Now what? It was like he was staring right into Spike's soul.

"Sapphire spoke fondly of you over the last few days, little one." The dragon's deep, booming voice seemed to shake the entire ground. "An honor no other male dragon your age shares. I've not seen her smile so wide. Thank you for being so kind to her. I would hope that we meet again someday, if only for her sake. Farewell." With that, the large dragon turned back to follow his wife soaring above the sea of trees.

Once he was sure he was alone, Spike rested on his back, watching the clouds roll by. When he could no longer fight it, the tears flowed down his face.


	9. Final Chapter

Ponyville seemed much less brighter than usual when Spike returned, dragging his drooped body along the dirt road that led back to Twilight's library. A strange, empty feeling had persisted inside his gut ever since Sapphire left. It was the saddest feeling he'd ever experienced. Was she really gone for good? Would he never hear her voice, the soft sweet sound of her giggle, or feel the warm touch of her paw again?

Not even a rainbow-colored form following above was enough for him to lift his head. "Boy, you sure got me good yesterday, Spike. Nice prank! But don't let it get to your head, you just caught me off guard, that's all, and I'm giving you a fair warning that I'll find a way to get back at you!"

Spike had heard Rainbow Dash's voice, but didn't bother to look up and acknowledge her. He simply maintained his moping posture without making a sound. Dash stopped her forward movement, holding her hoof to her mouth in a mix of awe and sympathy as she watched Spike walk solemnly along towards the library. Were those TEARS going down his face? She'd watched him come into town from the direction he usually took when he left to visit Sapphire. That could only mean…

"Uh-oh." Dash hovered in place as she observed Spike. He was heading back home. Best to check on him and make sure he was ok...

"I still don't understand why you're so jealous of Spike and Sapphire, Rarity," Twilight said. The two unicorns stood in the middle of the library, where Rarity had paid a visit in order to complain about her lack of a love life. Of course, Twilight was the pony everypony came to when they had a problem,

"Well... it isn't fair!" Rarity's curly mane danced as she stomped her hoof in protest. "Why haven't I found love yet? They're probably ten years younger than I am! Why must it take ME so long?"

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Probably because you're too picky?"

Rarity narrowed her eyes. "You could have at least given me the dignity of hesitating before you answered."

The sound of the door opening brought the unicorns' attention away from their conversation to see Spike walk into the library.

"Oh, Spike," Twilight said, "you're back sooner than I thought you'd be."

Without paying any heed to Twilight or Rarity, Spike made his way across the lobby and up the stairs to Twilight's room. Not so much as a sound followed.

"Spike?" Scratching her head in confusion, Twilight turned to Rarity.

"Oh my. Didn't you see the look on his face? The poor little guy's crushed."

A hovering form entered the library through the still-open door, this time a pony with a rainbow-colored mane.

"Hi, Rainbow," Twilight said. "What brings you here?"

"I just saw Spike come in here looking real upset. I wanted to make sure he was okay." Dash paused to think of an excuse to check on Spike other than she was legitimately worried about him, which wasn't outwardly cool. She DID have a reputation to uphold, after all. "…Because I have nothing better to do."

"Um, excuse me…" A pink-haired pegasus appeared underneath her rainbow-colored companion. Once she noticed all eyes were on her, she hung her head, scraping her hoof across the floor. "Oh, I hope I'm not interrupting, but I saw Spike looking really sad. Is he alright?"

Twilight paused to look to the top of the stairs for a few moments; then turned back to her friends. "I think he and Sapphire just broke up. He should be ok, in time."

"We simply must check on him," Rarity replied.

The other ponies nodded in confirmation; then followed each other upstairs into Twilight's room. The little dragon was there, curled up in his basket a sobbing, shivering mess. Rarity was the first to approach him.

"Spikey-wikey, sweetie, whatever is the matter?"

"What happened, Spike?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, tell us what's up!" Dash said.

"Are you ok?" Fluttershy added.

All Spike could do to answer was shake his head "no".

Twilight tapped her hoof impatiently. "Are you gonna tell us what happened or not?"

"It's.… over."

"Over?" Rarity asked.

"Sapphire's… gone. She left Equestria with her parents."

Dash gritted her teeth in sympathy as the other ponies puzzled for something to say. "Oh… bummer, huh? Ok, look, never mind what I said about paying you back for yesterday's prank. I won't do it."

"Rainbow!" Twilight snapped.

"I mean… um…" Dash cupped her hooves behind her back, fighting for the right words. It certainly wasn't awesome to be too sappy and sympathetic. "I'msorryokay?"

The cross gaze remained pasted on Twilight's face. STILL not good enough? Dash sighed and wilted before planting her hooves to the ground to rub Spike's shoulder in sympathy. "Look, Spike, I'm sorry it happened, and it stinks. Is there… anything I can do to help?" Rainbow dared a glance over her shoulder at Twilight, who smiled and nodded in approval.

Again, Spike answered with a shake of his head.

"Are you sure?" Rarity asked. "I can bring you some nice, delicious gems."

"Not hungry."

Tears welled up in Fluttershy's kind blue eyes. It hurt to see Spike so upset, especially since he refused gems. GEMS. He'd never turned down gems before. Fluttershy knew he was in a great deal of grief. The tears streamed down her face, wetting the yellow fur on her delicate features. She wiped the tears from her face and sniffed.

"Look, everypony," Twilight's voice called the other ponies' attention away from the heartbroken dragon. "I think Spike just needs some time to himself."

"Is he going to be okay?" Fluttershy asked.

"He'll be fine… in time."

Spike shivered at the thought. Thank you, Dr. Twilight. He needed relief NOW.

The herd of ponies left the room and trotted down the stairs, save for Twilight who remained at Spike's bedside. She tried to think of what she could say to cheer the little dragon up, or at least give him a peace of mind. Only when he heard the door shut after the last pony left did Spike pick himself up and wrap his arms around Twilight's front legs. He buried his face into her chest and cried.

"Twilight… it's not fair! Why does it have to hurt so much?" Indeed, he'd never felt pain like THIS before.

Twilight shook her head as she rubbed Spike's back to comfort him. "I wish I knew what to tell you there, but it's just part of being in love."

A small groan sounded from Spike. Why did everypony insist on making love seem so grand and fantastic, as if it were the key to ultimate happiness? How come nopony ever told him love could hurt this much? They never talked about the ugly side of it. Of course, most ponies avoided unpleasant topics in general, so that might account for it. Even so, nothing could have prepared him for this sort of emotional torture.

"Well, make it stop!" Spike cried.

"Sorry. I don't know any spells to cure a broken heart. You just need time. Can you be a tough little guy until then?"

The only answer from Spike was a loud sniff.

"Look, I'm going to give you some time to yourself and catch up on my studies. I'll be right here in the library if you need anything, ok?"

"Ok…" Spike whispered.

.

After gently pushing Spike away, Twilight gave him a smile to assure him everything would be okay; then retreated downstairs. Once she'd disappeared, Spike threw himself back onto his bed.

That night…

Twilight's mouth opened into a big, gaping yawn. The unicorn looked out the window. It was already sundown. Easy to lose track of time when you're pulled inside a good book. After a big stretch of her legs, Twilight shut her book, set it on the table and stood up. She hadn't heard so much as a peep from Spike since earlier that afternoon. Better check on him on her way to bed. As she made her way up the stairs, a startling thought came to mind.

He was growing up. Fast. Maybe… this would be the right time to let him go off on his own. To spread his wings with a certain young dragoness, just as she'd thought about earlier that week. The thought extracted quiet tears from both her eyes, but she was determined to do the right thing. She couldn't keep Spike shackled to her forever.

"Spike?"

No answer. Twilight walked further up the stairs, wiped her eyes and approached Spike's bed.

"Spike?"

Still curled up in his bed, Spike's answer was a weak moan.

"Listen, Spike." Twilight dropped to her haunches next to Spike's basket bed. "You're… you're a big dragon now, Spike, and part of being a big dragon means having to make some tough choices."

Spike could only sigh at Twilight's words. Now he was getting a LECTURE on top of his broken heart. Could this day get any better?

"Just hear me out," Twilight replied, knowing that Spike's yawn was in half-hearted protest. "Now, I'm going to let you make one of those tough choices. If…" The unicorn had to turn her head and gulp down the tears before she could bring herself to continue. "If you want to leave and go find Sapphire, I promise I won't get mad and I won't try to stop you."

For the first time since he laid down earlier that day, Spike moved. He rolled over on his back to look Twilight in her violet eyes. "What?"

"You're growing up, Spike. I can't keep you forever."

"You'd… just let me leave?"

"You don't know how lucky you are, Spike. I don't even know what it's like to be in love. If being with her really made you happy… I'd be happy."

Spike could only look up at Twilight, mouth agape in awe. Sapphire… he could be with her again. What he wouldn't give to hear her voice one more time, to hold her paw again. He was free to go after her, no strings attached.

"I'm going to get some sleep." Twilight's voice snapped Spike from his trance like state. "I'll let you think about it. Whatever you decide, I know it'll be the right choice. Good night, Spike."

As Twilight blew out the torches, blanketing Spike with darkness, the little dragon laid there in thought. What about his friends. What about… Twilight, the pony who had been like his mom, his sister, his aunt? What in Equestria was he supposed to do?

The next morning…

The beams of Celestia's sun greeted Twilight as she opened her eyes for the day, stretched and yawned with a strange sense of dread. She closed one eye and dared to aim the other at Spike's bed. Except for his blanket, it was empty. Twilight sighed and climbed out of bed. So, this was it. Spike was really gone. A framed picture of Spike and Twilight on the unicorn's desk caught her attention. It only took a second for tears to run down her cheeks. As long as she lived, she would never forget that little purple dragon.

Twilight let out a sigh. Best to get some breakfast, if she could keep it down. Slowly, Twilight stepped downstairs, head hung in sorrow. But the closer she got to the bottom of the stairs, a familiar scent grew stronger.

Oatmeal? Twilight lifted her head to peer into the kitchen. There was Spike, with his heart pattern apron, preparing breakfast.

"Spike!"

The unicorn's voice snapped Spike's attention to the lobby, from whence Twilight walked into the kitchen.

"Morning, Twilight."

"I thought you would have gone to look for Sapphire by now. If you don't start soon, you'll never catch up to her."

Spike stepped down off his stool to let the oatmeal come to a boil. "I'm… not going."

"Why not? She meant a lot to you, didn't she?"

"Yeah, but," Spike walked forward to embrace Twilight. Not even Sapphire's hugs could beat the sense of security that his surrogate mother's soft fur gave him. "You mean more."

More tears welled up in Twilight's eyes, happy tears this time. She was wrong to ever think Spike didn't like her anymore. "Oh, Spike." Twilight wrapped a foreleg around his back. "I'm so proud of you for making such a tough decision."

Spike let go of Twilight and looked to the floor. "I'm gonna miss her though…"

"Do you want to write a letter to Princess Celestia about it?"

As he looked up at Twilight, Spike smiled.

"I think I will!"

_Dear Princess Celestia,_

_It's Spike. This past week I was given the opportunity to learn a bit about friendship, both good things and very hard things. I learned that new friends can seem to come out of nowhere, even when you think you're alone. I also learned that one of the hardest things about friendship is having to say goodbye to a good friend. But just because you've said goodbye doesn't mean you won't see each other again sometime. And even if you fall in love with a new friend, sometimes it's your oldest friends who stay the closest to your heart._

After a deep inhale Spike blew on the parchment, which vanished into a streak of magic sparks and shot off towards Canterlot. However, the little dragon could only stare sadly at the ground.

"Feel better?"

Twilight placed her hoof on Spike's shoulder, causing him to lift his head up and look behind his back. "Eh, not really."

"You'll feel better, in time."

Spike's eyes shot open in astonishment at a rumbling deep in the pit of his stomach. A few seconds later, a belch forced a scroll from his maw.

"Well, that was a fast reply," Twilight said as she watched Spike unravel the parchment. "What's it say?"

"It's from Sapphire," Spike answered. He clutched the full, flat parchment in his paws and read it out loud.

"Dear Spike,

I'm so sorry things couldn't have worked out the way we wanted it to. My parents said Equestria really isn't the place for full-grown dragons. I miss you so much already. Don't ever change; you just keep being the sweet, wonderful dragon I know you are in case we meet again someday. I won't forget about you! Write back soon! -XOXO, Sapphire."

"See?" Twilight said, "keep writing to her and you'll know where she's at. Someday you'll meet her again."

"Yeah," Spike sighed as he rolled the parchment up, "but until then…"

The little dragon walked over to the desk where Twilight had kept a series of pictures printed from the day he brought Sapphire to Ponyville. He shuffled through them, searching for the perfect one. His paw stopped on a photo with him and Sapphire embraced in a hug, smiling widely. With a deep breath, he held the picture in front of his face and sent it on its way.

Sapphire walked on beneath her parents, head hung in sorrow. It felt like it was all her fault for breaking Spike's heart. She only hoped he wasn't hurting as much as she was. Her parents had tried to convince her where they would wind up would be many more boy dragons, but she knew none of them could be as generous as Spike. Dragons simply weren't known for generosity.

A startling but familiar rumble formed in Sapphire's stomach before she belched out a flat piece of paper. She snatched it out of the air to take a closer look at it. There she was in the picture, hugging Spike tightly.

Despite her sadness, looking at the picture only made Sapphire smile as she held the picture firmly against her torso.

~Fin


End file.
